Hey! So this is he beginning of the end, I'm afraid. I DO plan on writing a sequel. It will take place during Harry's sixth year, AU.
Disclaimer: Yadda yadda yadda.
Chapter 29
"We have to be sure," I said.
Harry threw his arms up in the air as I stood in front of the portrait. "You just had a bloody vision! What more proof do you need?"
I crossed my arms. "I need proof beyond a doubt. And I won't let you run into harm's way until I know it's necessary." That was a lie. I didn't plan on letting him run off to the ministry at all, even if Sirius was being held as bait. But I wasn't going to let Harry know that.
Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at my face. "Move," he said. "Move now."
I narrowed my eyes and flicked my wand. His own soared across the room. "You don't want to do that."
Harry's eyes went wide.
"Harry," Hermione said. She picked up his wand. "Harry, I think Kat's right."
Harry's bottom lip trembled. "You don't get it!" he shouted. "Voldemort only has him because of me!"
Hermione put a hand on his shoulder. "I know. And if he's there, then we'll save him. But we have to be sure. You know what Dumbledore said."
"Dumbledore's said nothing to me this whole year! And Dumbledore's gone!"
"But he said Voldemort could trick you, mate," Ron said, gently. "Sirius could be safe."
"But he's not!"
"What's going on?" Neville walked in, Ginny close behind him.
"Why all the yelling?" Ginny said.
"They've got him," Harry said, and his bottom lip trembled again.
I took a step forwards and grabbed Harry's wand from Hermione's hand. Then I handed it to him. "Let's make sure, Harry. That's all I'm asking."
He shook for a moment, and I thought he might yell again. Then he nodded. "Fine."
I nodded, letting a breath out that I didn't know I'd been holding. "Then let me get Snape."
Harry frowned and opened his mouth.
"He may hate you, but he's my uncle. He'll listen to me."
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Since when does he listen to you?"
"I'll make him listen then." I stood up. "Just. Just please stay here. Please."
Ron cleared his throat. "We will."
Hermione hesitated, then nodded. "Come back soon."
Harry was staring at his lap as I left the portrait. I ran as fast as I could to the dungeons, heaving as I opened Snape's door. The office was empty. Distantly, I could hear the muted sounds of students' laughter and fireworks still erupting.
"Of course," I said, turning the other way. He would probably be in the middle of the fray, or with Umbridge. I sprinted upstairs to the Great Hall as the sun began to set. Sure enough, it was pure pandemonium. Teachers tried to steer students away from the fake swamp, but to no avail. Prefects aimed their wands at crude effigy fireworks of Umbridge, but the fireworks seemed as unmoving as statues.
Then I saw pink robes, and then I saw black ones. Snape and Umbridge were talking about something as Filch watched them eagerly. I hid behind a pillar and cast a small patronus. The wolf cub ran to Snape, nipping at his heals just long enough to make him look down. Before Umbridge could follow his gaze, the wolf disappeared.
Snape coughed. "Excuse me for a moment. I must address the Slytherin house, as they are all at their houses, behaving. Unlike the rest of the student population."
He walked past me without looking, and I followed him.
"What now?" he asked once we made it a few corridors down.
"Harry wants to do something stupid," I said.
Snape crossed his arms. "That," he said, "does not surprise me. Nor is it anything new. I'm quite busy, so—"
"He thinks Sirius is being held at the ministry," I said.
"And why does he think that?" Snape's voice was low and neutral. He was both suspicious and cautious; I wasn't supposed to know anything more about the ministry than Harry did. Snape should have known better by now.
"He had a vision."
"So now Mr. Potter is a seer as well?"
I sighed. "You know he's been having dreams."
"His dreams are not visions—"
"Well you wouldn't know, since you haven't taught Harry a single Occlumency lesson in months!"
"Are you implying that I'm to blame for this?"
"No! But if you hadn't been a jerk to him—" I stomped my foot and tried to control my temper. "That's not the point. The point is that you need to come with me to Gryffindor."
"I'm busy, Katarina."
"Trust me," I said. "This is more important. And," I sighed. "I had a vision too."
Snape's eyes widened. "Are you still taking the potion?"
"Yes!" I wasn't lying. Technically.
He raised an eyebrow. "What did you see?"
Snape left the castle five minutes later. "I can't alert the Order from here. I'm just going to Hogsmeade."
"Ok."
"I'll be right back."
I nodded. "Good."
He frowned. "Don't do anything foolish."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm the one trying to be rational here. I'll just go make sure the boy who lived doesn't try to be the boy who dies."
Snape left with a whirl of his cloak, and I went back to Gryffindor tower.
Except that the common room was empty.
"Shit," I muttered, climbing the staircase to Harry and Ron's dorm. Nothing. No one. Hermione wasn't in her room, either. There was only one other place they could be, and as I broke into a jog, I hoped I was wrong.
Umbridge's office door was ajar, and I heard voices inside. One of them was far too pleased with himself. "Umbridge is going to give Potter and that Mudblood what's coming to them."
"Shut it!" Ginny.
"Piss off!" Ron said at the same time.
There was some rustling, and Draco laughed. "Like you can do anything to stop it."
Then I heard a crash. As I ran in, Ginny threw a curse at Draco. His face erupted in boils as Crabbe, Goyle, and a few other Slytherins tried and failed to duel Ron, Luna, Neville, and Ginny. Neville wrestled their wands from the Slytherins as I shut the door behind me.
"They're gone," Ginny said once she'd stupefied all the Slytherins.
I sighed. "Damn it! I asked you one thing, Ron. One thing. Stay there. And what do you do? The exact freaking opposite!"
Ron narrowed his eyes. "Harry needed to know. And Snape hates Snuffles. He'd sooner let Snuffles die than let us leave school grounds. We're not bloody stupid."
That remains to be seen, I thought. "Well?" I said. "Is Snuffles where he should be, or was Harry right?"
His ears turned red. "We didn't really get to that part. Malfoy interrupted."
I cursed. "We need to find them."
"But they could be anywhere," Ron said.
I tapped my head.
"Ah," Luna said knowingly. "Nargles."
They followed me past Hagrid's hut to the Forbidden Forest, and I told them where to go. "If I leave you alone for three minutes, can you promise to stay on school grounds?" I said.
Ron shook his head. "No."
"Then I'll only take one." They ran off without me and I gave myself a moment to think. I didn't know what to say to convince Harry not to go after Sirius, and the only other way to keep him at Hogwarts was brute force. I sent a patronus to Snape and hoped that he would hurry. Then I took off at a sprint, only to see the Thestrals climbing up past the trees.
"Hey!" I yelled. "Come back!"
Harry either didn't hear me, or ignored me. Adrenaline coursed through my body as my frustration gave way to pure anger. I cursed for a minute or so, then looked around for Snape. He was nowhere in sight. Maybe that was for the best. I knew if he saw what I was about to do, he'd have me in detention for the rest of my life.
It wasn't easy to climb onto the Thestral, and I nearly fell as it took off in the early dusk. "This is a bad idea," I muttered, teeth chattering. There was something bone-chilling about knowing exactly what kind of life-threatining situation I was about to put myself in. Or maybe it was just the altitude. "Can you go a bit faster?" I said to the Thestral. It snorted at my comment. "Fine," I said. "As long as we get there before everything goes to hell."
My Thestral landed near the others, and I ran to the phone booth. The ministry was dead quiet, and I treaded carefully; I didn't know where the death eaters would be. I didn't know if Sirius would be here or not. I didn't know where Harry and the others were. I didn't know anything.
I paused for a moment and cleared my mind. My visions had just started again, and so far they'd been random and quick. Not helpful at all. I clenched my eyes shut in concentration. "Something," I said. "Just show me something." A circular room with doors filled my vision. Then nothing. "That's it?" I sighed. "I'll make it work."
The room was three floors below the main entrance. It took a few minutes to get to, and once I was there, I was lost. There was a red X on one door. Harry ran out of the one next to it, closely followed by Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, and Ginny.
"Well that's not it," Hermione said.
"Kat!" Ginny said.
"I'm not going back," said Harry. "Not till I find Sirius. If anyone else wants to leave, I understand, but—"
I clenched my jaw. "Harry, he—"
"Not till I find Sirius!"
Ron glanced at me. "We're not leaving you, Harry."
The rest of them shook their heads.
But it's dangerous, I thought. I let out something between a sigh and a growl. "Fine. But there will be a hearty I told you so in store if we actually survive this."
"Did you have a vision?" Ron said. Hermione elbowed him.
"Ron!" I hissed.
Neville and Ginny frowned.
"Are you a seer?" Ginny said.
"That's impossible," Neville said.
Luna smiled. "Seers tend to do well with Nargles," she said. "Lucky."
"Of course I had a vision!" I shouted, ignoring Luna. "I've been trying to prevent it all year!"
"Stop yelling and tell us what you know," Hermione said, wand out. She made an X on the door they'd just come out of.
I sighed and pointed to the fourth door to the right. "This is the right one, for starters."
For all of my potential to see visions and premonitions, I wasn't prepared for the vastness of the Hall of Prophecies. Though it was pitch black, I felt like a tiny fish in an enormous ocean. Then our wands lit up, and I saw shelves upon shelves of glass orbs. Vaguely, I could make out faces moving inside of them, made of smoke and liquid.
"It's just up here," Harry said.
I stopped in my tracks, when a name my eye.
Rose Snape.
Sure, the name felt unfamiliar, but it was my mother. My heart skipped a beat. I raised my wand and walked closer, reaching towards the orb. Instead of wrapping around it, though, my fingers hit what felt like an invisible barrier.
Only the owner of the prophecy can retrieve it.
The words burned in my mind like a cruel prank; the prophecy was all I had left of my mother. I wondered what it had to say. Maybe it had something to do with me. I banished the thought as soon as it entered my head; it was selfish. But to know, to really know what I was supposed to be doing to help in the war, that would be invaluable. Or terrifying. Or both.
"Give me the prophecy," said a silky voice from far off.
"Where is Sirius?" Harry said. He sounded brave. I knew he was terrified, but he sounded brave.
I pulled my hand from my mother's prophecy and walked three aisles down. Death eaters surrounded Harry and the others. We were outnumbered. Very outnumbered. Lucius turned when he saw me. He smirked.
"How good of you to join us, Katarina."
OOO
I already have the next chapter written. I'll post it in a week, unless ten awesome readers leave reviews!
Things are about to go crazy, so I hope you keep reading!
